The repair of the USS Miami at the Maine's Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has been postponed and the Navy is now rethinking its maintenance and repair budget. Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, commander of Submarine Group Two in Groton, Conn., said the Navy must weigh competing priorities.

The shipyard's 4,700 civilian workers will be forced to take 22 days off without pay between April and Sept. 30 under forced federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

Workers plan to rally Wednesday against the mandatory cuts.

Metal Trades Council President Paul O'Connor says the USS Miami fire, set by a former shipyard worker, is a ``painful chapter'' in the shipyard's history.